Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge
Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, known in Japan as , is the fifth DBZ movie, originally released in Japan on July 20th 1991, between episodes 99 and 100. It was translated in America by FUNimation in 2002. Plot In this movie, Frieza's brother Cooler is introduced. It begins with a flashback to when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, and Cooler's ship picks up Goku's space pod escaping the system. Cooler lets it go, believing it to be no threat. More then twenty-five years later, Cooler discovers that his brother Frieza has been killed by a Saiyan. Showing no compassion towards Frieza, Cooler takes his Armored Squadron - Dore, Naise, and Sauza - after Goku to reclaim his family honor. His forces ambush Goku and his friends on a camping trip, and Goku is wounded by an attack meant for Gohan. After Krillin sets up camp with Goku, Gohan flies off to obtain Senzu beans from Karin. After obtaining the beans, he is ambushed by the Squadron, but is saved by Piccolo. Piccolo kills Dore and Naise, but Cooler attacks, sending Sauza after Gohan as a near-dead Piccolo falls to the ground below. Gohan arrives at the cave with the Senzu beans, but they are destroyed by Sauza. However, he heals Goku with a spare bean. After Krillin and Gohan are defeated by Sauza, Goku appears fully healed. Cooler shows up, and begins battling Goku. Rebirth of a Super Saiyan After several minutes of a somewhat even fight, Cooler tells of his history with Frieza. He then reveals his final transformation, and pummels Goku easily. However, as Cooler threatens to destroy the planet, Goku once again channeled his fury to become a Super Saiyan. Cooler finds himself, like Frieza was, grossly outclassed, but summons a trump card in the form of a large scale orange sun-like energy ball (the same attack Frieza used to blow up Planet Vegeta and the one he used to attempt to kill Future Trunks) to destroy Goku and the Earth. However, after a stint of struggling, Goku eventually manges to send it back with a Kamehameha wave, sending Cooler into the sun. As Cooler curses Goku, he suddenly realizes that Goku is the Saiyan he let escape. Cooler then disintegrates and dies in the sun. Goku, drained after his battle, is found by Krillin and Gohan. They are looking for Piccolo when Sauza reappears, and is about to destroy them. However, before he can attack, he is run through and killed by a Special Beam Cannon from a distance. Gohan looks around for Piccolo, and the movie ends with Piccolo staring at the sun. Canonicity A debriefing prior to the Strongest vs. Strongest stage of the Special Saga in the video game ''Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 asserts that Cooler's Revenge takes place following "return to Earth after crushing Frieza." This disturbs the canonicity of the mainstream series however, as Goku does not return to Earth after slaying Frieza until after Future Trunks' arrival, though the latter character has no role in the film. In addition, in spite of Future Trunks killing both King Cold and the revitalized Mecha-Frieza only hours prior to Goku's return to Earth, Cooler seems intent only seeking vengeance for the shame thrust upon his family by Frieza's display of inferiority on Namek, as though he were completely unaware of not only his father's recent death, but also of the second death of his brother, as well. Another inconsistency stems from the fact that Gohan has a tail in the film, despite not having one during the time in the series when Cooler's Revenge is purported to take place. This is not unheard of in the mainstream series, however, as Gohan's tail regrows twice within just twenty-one episodes of the first time his tail is removed by Piccolo in "Gohan Goes Bananas". (In the edited Ocean Group dub, there is a 7-episode difference between "Gohan's Metamorphosis" and "The End of Snake Way"). In addition, Goku was shown to easily transform into a Super Saiyan upon his return to Earth, but needed to enter a "rage" to transform against Cooler. While the film's alleged placement in the series' timeline is inconsistent with the actual events which occur at this time in the series, its canonicity is not absolutely ruled out. There is a possibility that the film takes place in one of the alternate timelines of the series. For example, one timeline has Cell travel to the past in place of Future Trunks. This might explain why Future Trunks does not make an appearance in Cooler's Revenge. There is a possibility that, for unexplained reasons, Future Trunks' arrival causes a predestination paradox where King Cold and Frieza journey to Earth, as well. If this film takes place during a timeline where Future Trunks, and in turn King Cold and Frieza, does not confront the Z Fighters, then this might explain why Cooler is intent on nothing more than seeking vengeance for the shame caused by Frieza's defeat, and why he appears to be completely unaware of the deaths of his father and brother on Earth. Cast Music Original music * Opening Song *# "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" *#* Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama *#** Song Lyrics * Ending Song *# "Tobikkiri no Saikyō tai Saikyō!"; とびっきりの最強対最強 (The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest'') *#* Lyrics: Masaru Satō, Music: Chiho Kiyo'oka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & Ammy *#** Song Lyrics *FUNimation Dub *#Drowning Pool - Reminded *#Dust for Life - Poison *#American Pearl - Seven Years *#Breaking Point - Under *#Finger Eleven - Stay and Drown *#Breaking Point - Falling Down *#Drowning Pool - Mute *#Disturbed - The Game *#Drowning Pool - Told You So *#Deftones - Change *#American Pearl - Revelation *#Breaking Point - Phoenix Trivia * By title, Cooler's Revenge is sometimes mistaken for The Return of Cooler, as the theme of the latter film deals with a true plot for revenge by Cooler. The 'revenge' inferred in the title of Cooler's Revenge is an allusion to Cooler's non-personal vendetta with Goku, for his shame over the defeat of his brother, Frieza. * Cooler's Revenge establishes that Cooler is the reason Goku's Saiyan Pod made its safe travel to Earth, after identifying Goku as harmless to his brother's operation. * Icarus, who first appeared in The Tree of Might, Lord Slug and the Garlic Junior. Saga is seen multiple times in the film. * This is the first Dragon Ball Z film in which Goku transforms into his traditional Super Saiyan form. * Goku was able to easily transform into a Super Saiyan when Trunks showed up, however, he had to become enraged to turn Super Saiyan when fighting Cooler. Of course, this was done so the fight with Cooler would last longer, as Goku was way stronger than Cooler in Super Saiyan form, but is a plot hole, though this could be because of the alternate timeline theory. * All three of Cooler's henchmen are killed by Piccolo. * This is the first Dragon Ball Z movie in which the Dragon Balls were not a part of the plot. See also * List of films Category:Films Category:Dragon Ball Z films